San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-05-28
OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Appro xaminations-Work Done
During the Year-Presence of Parents
Required-Some Suggestions.

Appro Examinations-Work Done
During the Year-Presence of Parents
Required-Some SuRR estions
The public schools If this city are drawing
TO a OIL Sc for the school year lss6'lSsI. Ihe
examination of the lower grades commences
next Wednesday This article is written for
the two fold purpose of showing somewhat
the general condition of the schools and OF en-
listing heartier aud more universal interest
in the examinations than they have heretofore
awakened. The examination OF the lower
grade pupils, which will be conducted on next
Wednesday from a. m. until noon, should
call together into the school rooms of this city
every person Interested in the condition and
rank of the colleges for the masses. rms
Wednesdays examination Will be particularly
interesting. IL viii be the only oral examlna,
ton of the whole series. IL will be faithful
portrature of the methods of teaching en-
plOyed I'm giving the little ones the first start In
school work. II will delineate the progresses
of communication and Illustration rs en-
ployed by the teachers and show how far these
have been successful In developing tho intel
lectual grasp of the little ones ana cvoklng a
genuine interest In the matters attempted to
be taught.
All examinations after this first grade are
written examinations AS II becomes necessary
to have a uniform examination, in order to a
uniformity of IA system of advancement based
upon uniform progress. In order TO insure
this uniformity of progress, each teacher of
the lower grades, as their classes are exam;
takes part in the examinations there. Thus
continued graduation of examiners is provided
for and "A continued interchange as well,
which viii preclude all possibility Of faYorit-
ism, or a routine machinery which may bo
come familiar to any particular grade, or any
interchange of information. The eXamina-
lions of the First, Second, Third and Fourth
grades completed the teachers are arranged
Into three committees of thirteen teachers
each, and 10 each of these committees is as
signed the examination and grading of the pa
pers on specific subject Thus there will be
one committee for Arithmetic, another COM
mittee for Language, and still another for
Geography. The Spelling eSaminati) IN being
differently arranged. BY this system an absO-
lutte unanimity of grading will result and the
work of the teacher be very much slmplIIied.
This same method will be pursued for the
Fifth, Sixth and Seventh grades these grades
forming another division.
Tho school examinations will continue from
June until the graduating exercises of the
High school, on the 18th of June. The school
staff of this city are most anxious to have
these examinations well attended by those
who have children in school, and also by any
others who will take sufficient interest in
school work to attend. There is not that full
sympathy existing between the school patrons
and the teachers that is necessary and indis-
pensable to efficient school work. The teacher
needs the impetus and stimulus of a more
generally expressed interest I'm the work in or
der to reach the best results, and the frequent
presence OF parents or guardians in the school
room Is always a real benefit to the work OF
the efficient teacher. Give the teachers of
San Antonio public schools the benefit of
your presence during examination week, and
let the habit become chronic of making FIRE
quent visit to she school room in which your
child is taught. The interest of the children
certainly demands that much at your hands,
and by doing IL you will form an intelligent
idea of the progress made, of the efficiency of
the teacher, of the discipline of the school
room, and of the moral tone of the play
ground. OF all which every parent with
child in school should at least know something.
As to the work done during the year and the
progress made by the schools, the examina-
tions will probably best develop that. These
examinations, however, will be more rigid
than those heretofore eXacted, and IL may be
that grade promotions will fall below general
expectation on that account. The work now
done aims directly to build up the schools by
increasing their thOroughness from the fOun-
datiOn up. The work Of this year has been
thoroughly directed toward that end, and the
beneficial results will be more apparent from
year TO year as these first grade pupils as
cend into the higher grades. A careful en-
Quiry at first hands leads to the conclusion
that during the year the attendance, the school
work and The discipline show marked i'm
provcment over that of the previous year.
The grade of scholarship has not been raised,
in the sense of advancing the studies of any
particular grade, but in the matter of holding
the pupils more strictly accountable and re-
quirlng better work of them, marked i'm
prOvement has been made and greater etf-
cheney reached than heretofore. Thus while
the grade of scholarship has not been raised
the scholarship of each grade has been raised
and thus a real advance, none the / SIS cal be-
cause not apparent to a casual observer, has
been scored. San Antonio is developing her
school work and making genuine progress OF
this fact the schools themselves afford good
evidence If the parents of the public school
pupils would frequently visit the schools they
would learn this fact for themselves and grow
to appreciate the work of these schools as
they do not and cannot while keeping alOOf
from them